It was recognized by the present inventor while installing electrical outlet boxes for a.c. 120 V components, during new construction to a stud and to a wall, that more often than not, the stud and wall space is limited, especially, for conveniently also installing telephone and cable television (CATV) where they are needed. There simply is not enough room to accommodate such installations particularly between adjacent rooms and when it is required to share a stud for mounting the electrical outlet boxes.
Various ways for accommodating high voltage electrical components such as an a.c. 120 V duplex power receptacle (power outlet) and low voltage components such as a telephone component (jack) and a cable television (CATV) component (adapter) and various combinations thereof, attempted in the past, include attachments such as brackets, adapters, independently ganged housings and others. Such devices are inconvenient to use, expensive, time consuming to install, require special cover plates, costly to produce, are not readily adaptable for field installation and may not adequately electrically isolate, separate and shield high voltage a.c. 120 V from low voltage requirements needed for telephone and for CATV applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,412 to Johnston, shows a plastic electrical outlet box assembly with a pair of identical separate outlet boxes connected together in a snap-together assembly and adjustably attachable to a separate mounting bracket attached to a stud wall in cantilever fashion for receiving a.c. duplex plug receptacles, cable TV and telephone jacks. The separate outlet boxes and the separate mounting bracket require parallel coengagaing rails and channel members to operate in snap-together assembly. This complicated box assembly construction also requires a separate, special mounting bracket thereby making the assembly costly to manufacture and may be difficult to properly align during installation as well as being inconvenient to wire.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,998 to Lynn shows a mounting bracket with a c-shaped frame that may be placed over a conventional electrical outlet box for receiving dual voltage outlets for an a.c. receptacle and cable TV and telephone. The bracket is made from 18 gage galvanized steel for rigidity and stability needed for mounting on the narrow face of a 2.times.4 wooden stud. Cover plate flanges are necessary to support the large cover plate.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,716 to Sciammarella shows a power outlet and a phone jack wall adapter. The Sciammarella device has several disadvantages, for example, it certainly is not suitable for selectively receiving an a.c. 120 V duplex power receptacle, a telephone jack and a cable television (CATV) adapter. Furthermore, the Sciammarella adapter is certainly not capable of being attachable to a stud instead it is attachable directly to a wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,399 to Schenk shows a multi-service electric outlet module for cable TV, telephone and computer systems. This design requires a centrally positioned open center section that is necessary to access the pre-installed low and high voltage components. The design uses a pair of mounting plates for the components with upper and lower triangular shaped flanges and separate upper and lower plate members which are recessed and are fixed within the housing. Schenk acknowledges the potential danger of high voltage particularly to small children due to the access opening necessary for using the invention. Schenk teaches the use of non-standard special designed enclosure plates to cover the open center section. The Schenk device has several disadvantages, for example, it's complicated cumbersome design, and the use of non-standard mounting plates, would not be usable for economically, safely, and selectively receiving various electrical components such as an a.c. 120 V power outlet, a telephone jack and a cable television (CATV) adapter, for example, in new building construction such as homes or office suites and wherever computer systems are not needed to be connectable. Further, for safety, a portion of the wall board could not be used to cover the open center section, rather, the device needs a special enclosure plate placed over the opening which defeats the purpose of the design by denying or limiting access to the high and low voltage services unless the enclosure plate is removed or is not installed. Furthermore, the open center section is certainly not aesthetically nor economically desirable for residential and certain commercial installations and may cause some safety concerns.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,256 to Cottone shows a wall outlet box for a.c. transformers/converters and a standard RJ-11 modular telephone jack connection on the face plate. Disadvantages of this device include the close proximity of the high voltage and low voltage component arrangement in the outlet box which could be a safety hazard. Furthermore, the design is not suitable for selectively receiving an a.c. 120 V power outlet, a telephone jack and a cable television (CATV) adapter.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,108 to Skidmore shows a data terminal service outlet mounted to a wall with both electrical power and a link with a central processing computer. One disadvantage of the Skidmore device is that it would not be usable for economically selectively receiving an a.c. 120 V power outlet, a telephone jack and a cable television (CATV) adapter, for example in new building construction such as homes or office suites and wherever a central processing computers are not needed to be connectable as taught by Skidmore.
Accordingly, it becomes clear that there is a great need for an electrical outlet box for safely receiving both high voltage and low voltage conductors and electrical components and for accommodating high voltage electrical components such as an a.c. 120 V duplex power receptacle (power outlet) and low voltage components such as a telephone component (jack) and a cable television (CATV) component (adapter). Such an electrical outlet box should be one that is easy to use, that is readily attachable to a stud, utilizes standard cover plates, is economically manufactured and is aesthetically pleasing when in use.